Giving to the 400 largest charities in the United States was down 11 percent overall in 2009.

“The people of the South are beating day and night the drum of secession, independence,” said Bishop Paride Taban, retired bishop of Torit.

“Few of the suburban communities have a social services infrastructure in place to address the challenges this increased poverty poses.”

Some bishops suggested that structural reforms would be required to preserve the identity and authority of the 22 Eastern churches.

What the unity of the North American Orthodox and Catholic Churches might look like

The agency has been assigned the task of combating the “de- Christianization” of countries that were first evangelized centuries ago.

The Hong Kong Catholic Justice and Peace Commission is campaigning for the release of the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan has pledged a seat in a New York Catholic school for any child who wants it.

The president of the Philippine bishops’ conference denied reports that he threatened to excommunicate the president over his proposal to distribute contraceptives.

In Latin America, women hold only one-third of top-level jobs.